I’m moving to Silicon Valley. How do I plug into the startup scene?

QUESTION:

I’m moving from Chicago to Silicon Valley to take my startup to the next level.  I want to hit the ground running.  Aside from meeting with VCs, what can I do to find “the scene”?  Are there particularly good cafes for meeting people, conferences, etc? — Richard, cofounder of TheLawyerMarket.com

ANSWER:

Naomi Kokubo

by Naomi Kokubo, Cofounder of Founders Space

Great question.  Luckily, you’re moving to the right place. There’s an abundance of groups and activities in the Bay Area.  Of course, I think our Founders Roundtables are a fun place to start, but they aren’t the only game in town.

Let’s begin with hip & happening cafes:

• Northstar Cafe – made famous by the Dropbox gang
• Ritual Coffee Roasters – Mochi Media’s hangout
• The Summit – i/o Ventures land
• 901 Columbus Cafe – where Scribd scribbles
• 111 Minna Gallery – SF Beta’s home turf
• Cafe Buon Giorno – Eventbrite’s cup of tea
• Epicenter Cafe – Playkast’s fav spot!

And here’s a cheat sheet on how to get instantly plugged into the Silicon Valley scene:

1. Subscribe to Startup Events
2. Go to your first SF Beta mixer
3. Check out Orrick’s Total Access
4. Sign up for SDForum
5. Join the Silicon Valley Association of Startup Entrepreneurs
6. Drop by SF New Tech
7. Grab a coffee in the SOMA District of San Francisco —  any cafe near South Park will do
8. Alternatively, have brunch on University Ave in Palo Alto
9. Lastly, subscribe to Startup Digest

This just scratches the surface of what the Bay Area has to offer, but it should be enough to get you started up!